Tower Heist
Tower Heist is a 2011 heist comedy film directed by Brett Ratner and written by Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson, based on a story by Bill Collage, Adam Cooper and Griffin. It was released on November 2, 2011, in the United Kingdom, with a United States release following two days later. Tower Heist follows Josh Kovaks (Ben Stiller), Charlie Gibbs (Casey Affleck) and Enrique Dev'reaux (Michael Peña), employees of an exclusive apartment building who lose their pensions in the Ponzi scheme of Wall Street businessman Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). The group enlist the aid of criminal Slide (Eddie Murphy), bankrupt businessman Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick) and another employee of the apartment building, Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe), to break into Shaw's apartment and steal back their money while avoiding the FBI agent in charge of his case, Claire Denham (Téa Leoni). Tower Heist began development as early as 2005, based on an idea by Murphy that would star himself and an all-black cast of comedians as a heist group who rob Trump Plaza. As the script developed and changed into an Ocean's Eleven–style caper, Murphy left the project. Ratner continued to develop the idea into what would eventually become Tower Heist, with Murphy later rejoining the production. Filming took place entirely in New York City on a budget of $85 million, with several buildings provided by Donald Trump used to represent the eponymous tower. The film score was composed by Christophe Beck and released commercially on November 1, 2011. The film received mixed reviews with much of the praise going to the cast, including Broderick, Leoni and Stiller. However, Murphy was repeatedly singled out by critics as the star of the film, with critics feeling that he displayed a welcome return to the comedic style of his early career. Much of the criticism received by the film was focused on the plot which was considered "formulaic," "rushed," "dull" and "laborious." The film earned almost $153 million during its theatrical run. Prior to release, the film was involved in a controversy over plans by Universal Pictures to release it for home viewing on video on demand to 500,000 Comcast customers, only three weeks after its theatrical debut. Concern over the implementation's harming ticket sales and inspiring further films to follow suit resulted in several theater chains' refusal to show the film at all if the plan went ahead, forcing Universal to abandon the idea. Plot Josh Kovaks (Ben Stiller) is the building manager of The Tower, a high-rise luxury apartment complex on Central Park West in New York City whose employees include concierge Charlie (Casey Affleck), who is expecting a child with Josh's sister; Enrique (Michael Peña), a newly hired elevator operator; Lester (Stephen Henderson), the doorman nearing retirement; Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe), a Jamaican maid on a work visa; and receptionist Miss Iovenko (Nina Arianda), who furtively studies for her bar exam at work. One morning Josh sees what appears to be a kidnapping of Tower tenant and wealthy businessman Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). Josh gives chase and almost catches him when he is clotheslined by FBI agent Claire Denham (Téa Leoni). Denham explains that Shaw was not being kidnapped, he was attempting to flee arrest, accused of running a Ponzi scheme. Josh tells the Tower staff about Shaw's arrest and explains that he gave Shaw their pension fund to invest, and their money is gone. After learning that Lester attempted suicide by walking in front of a moving train after losing everything he had, Josh, Charlie and Enrique visit Shaw, under house arrest in his penthouse apartment, to tell him this. Shaw expresses condolences but appears insincere, and Josh responds by destroying the windows of a 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso Shaw has on display in his apartment. The building's General Manager (Judd Hirsch) is furious at Josh's actions and fires Josh, Charlie and Enrique. Josh meets Denham at a bar and she invites him to get drunk. As they drink she says Shaw must have had a cash safety net and suggests in jest that he find and steal it. Josh gathers Charlie, Enrique and former Tower tenant Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick) to draw up a plan to steal Shaw's money. When Charlie brings up the obvious drawback that they are not thieves, Josh enlists his neighbor and childhood playmate, a petty criminal named Slide (Eddie Murphy), to help. Slide trains the team but realizes he cannot do the robbery because he does not know how to crack the safe in Shaw's apartment. They bring in Odessa, whose family ran a locksmith business. Later on, Charlie tells Josh he has been rehired as the Tower's new manager, and warns Josh to stay away or he will have him arrested. Denham then tells Josh that a hearing for Shaw has been scheduled for Thanksgiving during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to avoid publicity, and Shaw will go free. Josh and his team decide to break into Shaw's apartment during the parade. Slide then attempts to betray the team by reaching the safe first, having tricked Odessa into giving him lessons. However, the team manages to intercept him at Shaw's apartment, breaks down a false wall and finds Shaw's safe behind it; Odessa opens the safe but finds it empty. Slide and Fitzhugh struggle for Slide's gun; the gun goes off and a bullet hits the car, revealing gold underneath the Ferrari's paint. They realize Shaw invested his cash in gold, had the gold melted down and cast into car parts, and then assembled the car in his apartment where the gold would be hidden in plain sight. Josh finds a ledger of Shaw's illegal finances in the car's glove box. They lower the car out the window into Fitzhugh's old apartment six floors below, and then take it down to the lobby on top of an elevator. Just as they reach the lobby Agent Denham and Shaw return, the Thanksgiving court date being another set up, and take the same elevator back up. Denham sees Shaw's safe and informs him that he did not declare the safe on an inventory of items taken when he was arrested, which is a violation of the conditions of his bail. She has him remanded back into custody. Denham sees Lester using a stolen truck to try to escape from the building. She catches up to him, assuming he is fleeing with the Ferrari, but finds the truck empty. The FBI arrests him and Josh's other accomplices. She personally handcuffs Josh and privately congratulates him. As Josh is being questioned by the FBI, Miss Iovenko arrives, telling the FBI that she passed her bar exam three days ago and is acting as Josh's attorney. She shows them Shaw's ledger and tells them she will turn it over in exchange for everyone's freedom. The FBI accepts on the condition that Josh, being the primary conspirator, must serve a minimal two-year sentence. The team retrieves the car from its hiding place in Shaw's rooftop pool and send various parts of the car to Tower employees to compensate for their lost pensions. As the movie ends Shaw begins his life sentence and Josh is booked into jail, a satisfied smile slowly forming on his face. Cast *Ben Stiller as Josh Kovaks :The building manager. Stiller was paid $15 million for the role. *Eddie Murphy as Slide :A petty crook whom Josh turns to for help. Murphy joined the cast on October 13, 2010, and also became a producer on the film. He was paid $7.5 million for his work. *Casey Affleck as Charlie Gibbs :The building concierge and Josh's brother-in-law. Affleck wanted to participate in the film as he was interested in playing a comedy role, saying "it sounded like a fun film to do. I wanted to do a comedy, and I thought this was an opportunity to try and be funny." Grazer felt that Affleck would be perfect for the role because of his deadpan timing. *Alan Alda as Arthur Shaw :A Wall Street billionaire placed under house arrest for stealing $2 billion. On his character, Alda said "Shaw is sometimes described as a Bernie Madoff-like character. I'm not sure. I don't think anyone has ever operated on the scale that Madoff did. And I don't know if what Shaw did technically qualifies as a Ponzi scheme. But in that Shaw was willing to steal money from people who really needed it – who really couldn't afford to lose it – and willing to take everything they had…yes, he's in Bernie territory, with both feet." Ratner initially approached Robert Redford to play the role, being a fan of his work in the heist film The Hot Rock, but Redford turned him down. *Matthew Broderick as Mr. Fitzhugh :A former Wall Street investor made bankrupt. Broderick joined the cast on October 26, 2010. *Téa Leoni as Claire Denham :An FBI special agent assigned to Shaw's case. Leoni joined the cast on October 21, 2010. Leoni worked with FBI technical advisor Anne C. Beagan to prepare for her role. On her character and work with Beagan, Leoni said: "Agent Denham is your standard-issue, ball-breaking FBI agent. She's certainly a very tough lady, and it's not my first waltz with this type of character. However, I was able to spend some time with Anne, a great technical advisor we had on set. She's got this steely gaze that is terrifying, but what's underneath that is a very interesting lady. Beyond the technical aspects of the job, she provided so much more for me to use." *Michael Peña as Enrique Dev'reaux :The elevator operator and the newest employee of the building staff. Peña was cast on October 19, 2010. *Gabourey Sidibe as Odessa Montero :A Jamaican-born maid threatened with deportation by Shaw's theft. To perform her character's Jamaican accent, Sidibe had three dialect coaches help her prepare and practiced with a friend of Jamaican heritage. Additionally, Sidibe worked with an actual safecracker to accurately portray breaking into locks. Sidibe was cast on October 19, 2010. Judd Hirsch plays Mr. Simon, the building General Manager, and Stephen Henderson plays Lester, the tower's retiring doorman. Henderson was cast after the filmmakers saw his performance in August Wilson's Fences on Broadway. The cast is rounded out by Nina Arianda as Miss Iovenko, attorney-in-training, Juan Carlos Hernandez as Manuel the security guard, Harry O'Reilly as FBI Agent Dansk, Marcia Jean Kurtz as Rose, Peter Van Wagner as attorney Marty Klein, and Željko Ivanek as FBI Director Mazin. Jessica Szohr plays Sasha Gibbs, Charlie's wife and Josh's sister. Heavy D has a cameo appearance as a guard at a courthouse. Model Kate Upton cameos as the mistress of a Tower resident. Robert Downey Sr. has a cameo as Judge Ramos. Images External links * Category:Films Category:2011 release Category:Comedy Films Category:Eddie Murphy films Category:Téa Leoni films